Local Senator On Board with Proposed Lower BAC

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FORT WAYNE, Ind. (www.incnow.tv) – Nearly a dozen years after Indiana battled to lower the legal blood alcohol limit, there's another battle to lower it again—this time from the National Transportation Safety Board.

Although some seem to be against the idea of lowering the blood alcohol content (BAC) standard to .05, Indiana Senator Tom Wyss (R – Fort Wayne) says he’s all for it.

Wyss says it's not the drinking he sees to be the problem, it's drinking and driving. He says for every alcohol-related death on the highway, there are 19 alcohol-related injuries serious enough for hospitalization.

The NTSB says if Indiana and the other 49 states lower the BAC level to .05, a thousand lives will be saved a year.

Wyss says there's a big difference between current legal limit of .08 and the proposed .05, which is why he spearheaded the battle to lower the legal limit from .10 to .08 nearly 12 years ago.

"Nearly all people, not just a portion, nearly all people are impaired at that level and that's why we wanted to go to .08. What we also knew at that time, and what we know today, is at .05 most people are impaired,” he said.

Wyss went on to say it's a social responsibility issue, and when you drink and drive you're being socially irresponsible.

However, Indiana law states that one can be charged with drunk driving with a blood alcohol level of .05, if law enforcement can prove that person was impaired at the time.

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